Functional connectivity density alterations in children with strabismus and amblyopia based on resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)

Abstract

Purpose To explore functional connectivity density (FCD) values of brain areas in children with strabismus and amblyopia (SA) based on blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) signals. Methods This study recruited 26 children (14 male, 12 females) with SA and 26 healthy children (14 male, 12 female) as healthy controls (HCs). Both groups matched in age, gender, educational level and socioeconomic background. While resting, all participants underwent fMRI scanning and global FCD (gFCD) and local FCD (lFCD) values were calculated. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were created to investigate whether there was a significant difference between children with SA and healthy controls. Results When compared with healthy controls, children with SA had significantly lower gFCD values in the right cerebellum, left putamen, and right superior frontal gyrus; however, the same metrics showed opposite changes in the right angular gyrus, left middle cingulate gyrus, left angular gyrus, right superior parietal gyrus, and right middle frontal gyrus. In children with SA, lFCD values were found to be remarkably decreased in regions of the middle right temporal pole, right cerebellum, left putamen, left hippocampus, right hippocampus, left thalamus, left cerebellum; values were increased in the right superior parietal gyrus as compared with healthy controls. Conclusion We noted abnormal neural connectivity in some brain areas of children with SA; detailing such connectivity aberrations is useful in exploring the pathophysiology of SA and providing useful information for future clinical management.

Characteristics of brain activation in high-level football players at different stages of decision-making tasks off the ball: an fMRI study

“…In the correlation analysis between the ROIs and behavioral performance (accuracy) in a key-press decision task, it was observed that in the NG group, activation in the left rectus gyrus, bilateral thalamus, and left temporal pole showed a significant negative correlation with accuracy during the key-press decision phase. The rectus gyrus is associated with episodic memory ( Feng et al, 2020 ), the thalamus is involved in visual information processing ( Shi et al, 2022 ), and the temporal pole plays an important role in perceptual processing ( Bangert and Altenmuller, 2003 ). This finding suggests that the activation in these brain regions in the novice group may be associated with lower decision-making ability or uncertainty, leading to decreased accuracy in decision-making behavior.…”

Brain mechanism of acupuncture for children with anisometropic amblyopia: a resting functional magnetic resonance imaging study based on voxel-mirrored homotopic connectivity

“…According to the pathogenesis of amblyopia, which is eyesight weakness due to qi deficiency, our research group has developed an acupuncture method to regulate qi and clear the eyes by selecting Jingming (BL1), Cuanzhu (BL2), Guangming (GB37), and Fengchi (GB20) acupoints, and conducted experimental studies based on the macroscopic perspective of synaptic structure [12][13][14] , which have shown good clinical effects [15] . Because the lesions of amblyopia are in the visual cortex rather than in the retina and resting state-functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) can noninvasively study the brain activity, rs-fMRI technology is widely used to study the brain function changes of amblyopia patients [16][17][18] . Voxelmirror homotopic connectivity (VMHC) is a method proposed by Stark et al [19] in 2008 to study the difference in functional connectivity among the voxels in the symmetrical system of the bilateral hemispheres of the brain and to evaluate its coordination.…”